Greene, Philip Desmond

by James Quinn

Greene, Philip Desmond (1920–2011), sports broadcaster, was born on 2 October 1920 in Broadstone, Dublin, the eldest of four children of Patrick Henry Greene, a clerk with the Midland Great Western Railway, and his wife Agatha (née Malone). He was educated at St Canice's CBS and O'Connell School, North Richmond Street. A keen sportsman, he played Gaelic games at school, soccer with Bohemians and Home Farm, rugby with CIYMS, and cricket with Civil Service, Leinster Pioneers and Phoenix. Born within a stone's throw of Bohemians' Dalymount Park, he was taken to see them play by his father (a Bohemians supporter), but soon switched allegiance to Shamrock Rovers, admiring their stylish football and fighting spirit. His childhood hero was Paddy Moore (qv), the great Rovers centre-forward. He was also a keen supporter of Manchester United and Glasgow Celtic.

After leaving school, Greene held various jobs, working as a buyer in a textile company, a commercial traveller and a civil servant. He had ambitions to become an actor and won a scholarship to the Gate Theatre School of Acting, but was unable to take it up. He did, however, appear on stage in some minor roles at the Gate. A talented writer, he wrote books for boys such as Scarlet and gold (1946) and Let it be told (1951). The former sold 10,000 copies and was entered in the arts competition of the 1948 London Olympic games, earning Greene a competitor's medal. He also wrote some short plays for children for Radio Éireann (RÉ), which provided his entry into broadcasting. Greene began working for RÉ in 1949, reporting on cricket and athletics for the Sports stadium programme. In 1950 he took over from Eamonn Andrews (qv) as RÉ's soccer commentator, covering that year's Leinster Senior Cup final and presenting the Soccer survey programme on Saturday evenings. A year later he gave his first live commentary on an international match in Ireland's 1–0 defeat to Argentina at Dalymount Park (13 May 1951), and from August 1951 regularly presented Sports stadium. His wide range of sporting interests helped him secure the position of sports officer with RÉ in 1953, and he was producer, presenter and editor of Sports stadium for many years. (Not being a member of the GAA probably helped his appointment, as the programme had to cover sports then subject to the GAA ban.) He covered numerous international sporting tournaments and a host of domestic events. Keenly interested in athletics, he was present at Morton stadium, Santry, on 6 August 1958, when the Australian Herb Elliott shattered the world record for the mile by 2.7 seconds; Greene delivered a memorable commentary on the race. He was also an informed golf reporter, and regarded Jack Nicklaus as his most impressive interviewee.

Soccer, though, was the sport closest to his heart, and during the 1950s Greene became a familiar voice to Irish supporters. He also wrote a column on the League of Ireland for the Evening Press. When covering domestic games he rarely disguised his preference for Shamrock Rovers (while generally managing to be fair to their opponents). It brought him great joy to cover the success of various Rovers' teams, from 'Coad's colts' in the 1950s to the sides that won six successive FAI Cups (1964–9) and four successive league titles (1984–7). He recalled Rovers' late comeback from two goals down in the 1956 cup final to beat Cork Athletic 3–2 as the most memorable game he covered. His leaning towards Rovers meant that he took considerable ribbing from followers of other teams, who dubbed him 'Philip Greene-and-White'. However, he took all such banter in his usual good-natured way, admitting and joking about his bias, and was a popular figure with supporters of all clubs.

In international games his colourful and often wry commentaries had a unique ability to capture the national mood. When John Ateyo's last-minute goal in a World Cup qualifier at Dalymount on 19 May 1957 gave England a 1–1 draw and eliminated Ireland from the competition, Greene's evident despondency mirrored that of the stunned Dalymount crowd. There were, however, limits to his love of sport. A devout catholic, in October 1955 he refused to commentate on a game between Ireland and Yugoslavia after the catholic archbishop of Dublin, John Charles McQuaid (qv), had called for its cancellation because of his opposition to the communist Yugoslav government. The game was not broadcast by RÉ, and the incident briefly soured Greene's relations with the FAI, who demanded an explanation before they allowed him to commentate on subsequent games.

Greene had all the attributes of a first-rate sports commentator: in addition to his comprehensive knowledge of and passion for sport, he had a distinctive, warm voice and a superb command of language, and brought his actor's skills to bear on the tone and timing of his commentaries. Not content with the safe clichés of most sports commentary, he created original and vivid images for his listeners, with quotations from Shakespeare thrown in for good measure. When Shamrock Rovers resisted a prolonged Valencia attack in an Inter-Cities Fairs Cup game in 1963, Greene described how: 'The embattled Hoops are strapped to the mast as waves and waves of Spaniards roll over them!' He prepared diligently for games, researching the native pronunciation of foreign players' names. However, he also had a mischievous side: when Ireland played Luxembourg at Dalymount on 28 October 1953, he took great delight during his commentary in repeatedly referring to the visitors' best player – Fuckinger. Greene recalled: 'He was everywhere. And I caressed the name all night and nobody could criticise me' (Ir. Times, 27 September 1990).

On 10 August 1961 he was appointed assistant head of sports programmes for both RÉ and the nascent Telefís Éireann, reporting to Michael O'Hehir (qv), and was an important figure in the small group that launched the new television channel's sports service. However, he believed that a bias at the station in favour of Gaelic games limited soccer coverage and his own television appearances, and waited until 1967 to give his first live television commentary on an FAI Cup final (in which Shamrock Rovers beat St Patrick's Athletic, 3–2). When he did commentate on televised games, the medium left less room for his evocative descriptions, and his commentaries rarely matched those on radio. He admitted to a strong preference for radio.

Greene marvelled at his good fortune in earning his living doing something he loved, but recalled that even sports commentary had its worrying moments. When Drumcondra played ASK Vorwärts in a European Cup game in 1965 in East Germany, he joked that a Vorwärts players who missed an easy chance to score would be sent to Siberia, after which his telephone line went dead (he was later assured that this was just an electrical fault). More seriously, his commentary box at Oriel Park, Dundalk, was attacked by Linfield supporters in the riots that erupted during a European Cup match on 30 August 1979. Although terrified, he continued his commentary until rescued just in time by gardaí.

Greene retired from RTÉ on 2 October 1985 with a broadcast from Rovers' Glenmalure Park. He did not welcome retirement and, as enthusiastic as ever, continued to commentate as a freelance on domestic games for some years afterwards. The sale of Glenmalure Park to property developers in 1987 greatly saddened him, but on 30 September 1990 he was somewhat consoled by the invitation to act as master of ceremonies when Rovers played St Patrick's Athletic at their new home in the RDS before a crowd of 25,000.

When the Republic of Ireland went to the UEFA European Championship in West Germany in 1988 (the first time the team qualified for a senior international tournament), Greene was disappointed not to be involved in a professional capacity, but the FAI flew him out to Stuttgart to attend the opening game against England. Having seen so many Irish defeats and near misses over the years, he was moved to tears by Ireland's 1–0 victory.

Greene was universally acknowledged as 'the voice of Irish soccer' for over three decades. His distinctive and lyrical commentaries are recalled fondly, even if some of the sayings attributed to him (such as 'the score is 2–2 in favour of Rovers') are probably apocryphal. In his latter years he received numerous awards testifying to the respect and affection in which he was held, including the FAI special merit award (1992) and induction into the FAI National League Hall of Fame (1995). He was also honoured by the Soccer Writers' Association of Ireland and the Association of Sports Journalists in Ireland, and in 2010 was included in the Shamrock Rovers Hall of Fame.

He died on 15 May 2011 in St Colmcille's Hospital, Loughlinstown, Co. Dublin, survived by his wife Patricia (whom he met in RÉ) and four children, Philip, Rhona, Edeana and Eoin, and was buried in Shanganagh cemetery.